American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 32, Issue 6 , Pages 509-516 , June 2007

Active Transportation to School: Trends Among U.S. Schoolchildren, 1969–2001

  • Noreen C. McDonald, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Noreen C. McDonald, PhD, Department of City and Regional Planning, New East Bldg. CB 3140, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3140.

References 

  1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999–2004. JAMA. 2006;5:1549–1555295
  2. Kann L, Kinchen S, Williams B, et al. Youth risk behavior surveillance: United States 1997. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1998;47(SS–3):1–89
  3. Killingsworth R, Lamming J. Development and public health: could our development patterns be affecting our personal health?. Urban Land. 2001;12–17(July)
  4. Tudor-Locke C, Ainsworth BE, Popkin BM. Active commuting to school: an overlooked source of children’s physical activity. Sports Med. 2001;31:309–313
  5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed.. Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2000;
  6. Federal Highway Administration. Fact sheets on highway provisions: safe routes to school program. 2006;http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safetealu/factsheets/saferoutes.htm
  7. Tudor-Locke C, Neff LJ, Ainsworth BE, Addy CL, Popkin BM. Omission of active commuting to school and the prevalence of children’s health-related physical activity levels: the Russian longitudinal monitoring study. Child Care Health Dev. 2002;28:507–512
  8. Tudor-Locke C, Ainsworth BE, Adair LS, Popkin BM. Objective physical activity of Filipino youth stratified for commuting mode to school. Med Sci Sports Exer. 2003;35:465–471
  9. Cooper A, Page A, Foster L, Qahwaji D. Commuting to school: are children who walk more physically active?. Am J Prev Med. 2003;25:273–276
  10. Heelan KA, Donnelly JE, Jacobsen DJ, Mayo MS, Washburn R, Greene L. Active commuting to and from school and BMI in elementary school children-preliminary data. Child Care Health Dev. 2005;31:341–349
  11. Metcalf B, Voss L, Jeffery A, Perkins J, Wilkin T. Physical activity cost of the school run: impact on schoolchildren of being driven to school. BMJ. 2004;329:832–833
  12. Rosenberg DE, Sallis JF, Conway TL, Cain KL, McKenzie TL. Active transportation to school over 2 years in relation to weight status and physical activity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2006;14:1771–1776
  13. Fulton JE, Shisler JL, Yore MM, Caspersen CJ. Active transportation to school: findings from a national survey. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2005;76:352–357
  14. Martin S, Carlson S. Barriers to children walking to or from school—United States, 2004. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2005;54:949–952
  15. Ewing R, Greene W. Travel and environmental implications of school siting. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 2003;
  16. Dellinger AM. Barriers to children walking and biking to school—United States, 1999. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2002;51:
  17. Beschen D. Transportation characteristics of school children. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Transportation; 1972;
  18. U.S. Department of Transportation. 2001 NHTS user’s guide. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Transportation; 2004;
  19. Research Triangle Institute, Federal Highway Administration. User’s guide for the public use data files: 1995 nationwide personal transportation survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation; 1997;October. Report nr FHWA-PL 98-0002.
  20. Polzin SE, Chu X. A closer look at public transportation mode share trends. J Trans Stat. 2005;8:41–53
  21. McGuckin N, Srinivasan N. Journey-to-work trends in the United States and its major metropolitan areas, 1960–2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation; 2003;
  22. Swait J, Louviere J. The role of the scale parameter in the estimation and comparison of multinomial logit models. J Market Res. 1993;30:305–314
  23. Blamey RK, Bennett JW, Louviere JJ, Morrison MD, Rolfe JC. Attribute causality in environmental choice modeling. Environ Resource Econ. 2002;23:167–186
  24. Train K. Discrete choice models with simulation. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2003;
  25. Tholkes RJ, Sederberg CH. Economies of scale and rural schools. Res Rural Education. 1990;7:9–15
  26. Andrews M, Duncombe W, Yinger J. Revisiting economies of size in American education: are we any closer to consensus?. Econ Edu Rev. 2002;21:245–262
  27. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of education statistics 2005: Table 84: Number of public school districts and public and private elementary and secondary schools. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics; 2006;June
  28. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of education statistics: Table 3: Enrollment in educational institutions. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics; 2005;
  29. Timperio A, Ball K, Salmon J, et al. Personal, family, social, and environmental correlates of active commuting to school. Am J Prev Med. 2006;30:45–51
  30. Schlossberg M, Greene J, Paulsen P, Johnson B, Parker B. School trips: effects of urban form and distance on travel mode. J Am Planning Assoc. 2006;72:337–346
  31. McMillan T. The relative influence of urban form on a child’s travel mode to school. Transp Res A. 2007;41:69–79
  32. Black C, Collins A, Snell M. Encouraging walking: the case of journey-to-school trips in compact urban areas. Urban Studies. 2001;38:1121–1141
  33. Council of Educational Facility Planners, International. Guide for planning educational facilities. Scottsdale, AZ: Council of Education Facility Planners International; 1991;
  34. Beaumont C, Pianca EG. Historic neighborhood schools in the age of sprawl: why Johnny can’t walk to school. Washington, DC: National Trust for Historic Preservation; 2002;
  35. Vincent JM. Public schools as public infrastructure: roles for planning researchers. J Planning Educ Res. 2006;25:433–437
  36. Council of Educational Facility Planners, International. Creating connections: The CEFPI guide to educational facility planning. Scottsdale, Arizona: Council of Education Facility Planners International; 2004;
  37. Council of Educational Facility Planners, InternationalEnvironmental Protection Agency. Schools for successful communities: An element of smart growth planning. Scottsdale, Arizona: Council of Education Facility Planners International; 2004;
  38. Montgomery County Public Schools Department of Planning and Capital Programming. Future school sites. 2005;(May)24;2007 (January 8).
  39. Montgomery County Public Schools Department of Planning and Capital Programming. Closed schools. 2000;(October)10;2007 (January 8).
  40. Braza M, Shoemaker W, Seeley A. Neighborhood design and rates of walking and biking to elementary school in 34 California communities. Am J Health Promot. 2004;19:128–136
  41. Staunton CE, Hubsmith D, Kallins W. Promoting safe walking and biking to school: the Marin County success story. Am J Public Health. 2003;93:1431–1434
  42. Boarnet M, Anderson C, Day K, McMillan T, Alfonzo M. Evaluation of the California safe routes to school legislation: urban form changes and children’s active transportation to school. Am J Prev Med. 2005;28(2S2):134–140
  43. Collins DC, Kearns RA. Geographies of inequality: child pedestrian injury and walking school buses in Auckland, New Zealand. Soc Sci Med. 2005;60:61–69(Jan)
  44. Hillman M, Adams J, Whitelegg J. One false move …: A study of children’s independent mobility. London: Policy Studies Institute; 1990;
  45. Rosenbloom S. The impact of growing children on their parents’ travel behavior: a comparative analysis. Transport Res Rec. 1987;1135:17–25
  46. Hayghe H. Women’s labor force trends. In: Women’s travel issues: Proceedings from the second national conference. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration; 1996;
  47. U.S. Department of Labor. Women in the labor force: A databook. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor; 2004;
  48. U.S. Department of Transportation. Licensed drivers, population, and motor vehicles. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation; 2003;

PII: S0749-3797(07)00110-9

doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2007.02.022

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 32, Issue 6 , Pages 509-516 , June 2007